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The Penguins beat the Predators to stay alive in the East wild-card race

Matt Vensel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on

Published in Hockey

Smith and Eller ran a clever give-and-go out of the corner. Eller flipped a pass into the slot for Smith, and he whipped a perfect shot into the upper left corner. That snapped a 13-game drought for Smith. He had last scored on March 17.

But with 2:24 left in the second, Filip Forsberg ripped one from the right dot over Nedeljkovic’s left shoulder. His 48th goal of the season was a heck of a shot.

Pittsburgh’s fourth line scored a rare goal to provide some insurance in the third period. Karlsson dished a deceptive pass to set up Emil Bemstrom’s big blast.

That was enough for Nedeljkovic, who made 28 saves to earn another victory.

Ice chips

• Jansen Harkins was activated from injured reserve and played his first NHL game since breaking his hand March 7. The Penguins plugged him back into their fourth line. Jesse Puljujarvi, Radim Zohorna and John Ludvig were scratched.

• The Penguins’ 20 shots in the first were their most in a period since Dec. 27.

• Kris Letang also had a goal erased by goalie interference in the first period.

• The Penguins now have power-play goals in back-to-back games. It was the first time they did that in nearly a month. No shorthanded goals against, either.

 

• Bemstrom has three goals and two assists in 24 games since the Penguins acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Alex Nylander.

• Noel Acciari took part in Monday’s morning skate, his first full-team skate since going on injured reserve. He’s not eligible to return during the regular season.

Stat n’at

7– multi-point performances for Crosby in Pittsburgh’s last dozen games

Coming up

The Penguins are scheduled to practice Tuesday afternoon in Cranberry before they fly to Long Island to play their regular season finale against the Islanders.

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©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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